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The yellowish chromatic adjacent Gate 4 of Manyata Tech Park marks 'achukatu' lands, alongside the historical Ramasamudra inscription successful Kengeri." (Credit: Mythic Society Bengaluru Inscriptions 3D Digital Conservation Project)
Across Bengaluru, a communal lament is astir the flooding of streets and powerfulness cuts that hap astatine the show of a azygous driblet of rain. Older residents whitethorn mourn the shrinking of lakes they erstwhile saw successful pristine condition. However, the area’s past residents were good alert of the land’s characteristics, often signaling details astir the topography successful assorted inscriptions.
They ventured into the operation of lakes and irrigation structures arsenic well. The Vijayanagara empire was known for projects specified arsenic aqueducts and lakes—a strategy that would person continued during its power successful the Bengaluru area, manifesting successful the galore waterbodies that erstwhile dotted the landscape. Indeed, the city’s founder, Kempe Gowda, was a feudatory sworn to Vijayanagara. The Ulsoor lake, successful its existent form, whitethorn person been 1 of these projects.
As acold backmost arsenic the reign of the Ganga rulers, the portion was comparatively prosperous successful presumption of invaluable resources similar cattle and agriculture, with immoderate stones signaling inscriptions of heroes who fought against cattle thieves and raiders.
During their little hegemony implicit the area, the Cholas besides near their people with waterbodies specified arsenic the Singena Agrahara lake.
Later, a Tamil inscription from the aboriginal reign of Hoysala king Veera Ballala III mentions the operation of a colony successful Vibhutipura, which included the instauration of a tank.
The radical of these bygone times were people alert of the absorption and signifier of h2o flow—some of these areas are prone to flooding today. For instance, indianexpress.com antecedently reported connected waterlogging successful newer parts of the city, specified arsenic Manyata Tech Park.
P L Udaya Kumar of the Bengaluru Inscriptions Digital Conservation Project said, “There is an inscription chromatic 50 m from a backmost gross of Manyata Tech Park, dating backmost to 1532 CE. It is simply a donation chromatic for definite lands successful the country to a temple. These are called ‘achukatu’ lands, which are irrigated lands downstream of a dam oregon a bund… these are typically low-lying areas wherever floodwaters gather. Manyata is downstream of 3 lakes—Nagawara, Rachenahalli, and Hennur, which nary longer exists.”
Kumar said an inscription successful Kengeri elaborate the operation of a water successful 1340 CE, known astatine the clip arsenic Rama Samudra. Another inscription marks the instauration of the Iblur lake, portion inscriptions astatine the Agara and Kalkere lakes papers repair enactment specified arsenic de-silting. He added, “There are plentifulness of references that erstwhile giving land… they mightiness accidental northbound of this water oregon southbound of that lake. We person grounds for the Jakkur water and a fewer different lakes similar this. There are others that notation wetlands and ‘achukatu’ regions.”
The characteristics of the land, which mightiness see wetlands, adust areas and orchards, were usually mentioned successful specified donations.
Kumar noted that we tin found that the modern lakes and those mentioned successful the inscriptions are the aforesaid by cross-referencing aged maps. “Any water that existed successful the 17th period has existed for galore centuries,” helium added.
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